Police: 83 Sarawakians fell victim to overseas job scams since 2021

Based on our statistics, these job scam victims mostly took jobs in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Other destinations include the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Philippines.

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) received 54 police reports involving 83 Sarawakians who had fallen victim to overseas job scams between 2021 and Feb 23 this year.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) deputy director DCP Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said 64 of the victims had been rescued and returned to Malaysia.

“Based on our statistics, these job scam victims mostly took jobs in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Other destinations include the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Philippines,” he told the media after closing the six-day ‘AntiTrafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007 Enforcement Course for Sarawak and Sabah Zone’, yesterday.

Rusdi said last October, 40 Sarawakians out of 43 Malaysians were rescued from Peru after they were forced to work in a Macau scam.

“Based on our studies, 73 per cent of victims are forced to work as scammers, 12 per cent in the service industry, eight per cent in casinos, and seven per cent as chefs and others,” he said.

He pointed out lucrative salaries were a pull factor for these job scam victims.

“The victims are also prone to be influenced by trends and overseas job offers that they come across on social media,” he said.

“Initially, the victims were offered to work in an investment company or a licensed casino. Some were even offered to work in a resort, said Rusdi.

He added that once the victims reached the job destination country, they would instead be forced to work as scammers.

He pointed out that as the actual crime was committed overseas, there had been few arrests of job scammers in Malaysia.

Among the strategies set by PDRM, according to him, are to focus on arresting recruiters for the syndicate in Malaysia and to collaborate with other agencies such as Interpol and Aseanapol to rescue stranded victims.

“However, the best way is to create and raise awareness of job scams among the public through the media and social media platforms,” he added.

Between 2021 and Feb 23, PDRM recorded 354 job scam cases involving a total of 459 Malaysians, coming from all over the country.

It is stated that there are 133 Malaysians still abroad and efforts to bring them home are on-going.